In
Cook Islands mythology
Cook Islands mythology comprises historical myths, legends, and folklore passed down by the ancient Cook Islanders over many generations. Many of the Cook Islands legends were recited through ancient songs and chants. The Cook Islands myths and ...
of the
southern Cook Islands
The Cook Islands can be divided into two groups: the Southern Cook Islands and the Northern Cook Islands. The country is located in Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand.
From March to Decembe ...
group, the
earth goddess
An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the "chthonic" deities of the underworld.
Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corres ...
Papa was created when
Varima-te-takere
In Cook Islands mythology, Varima-te-takere ("goddess of the beginning") also called Vari ( ), was the primordial mother goddess, mother of the gods and mortals.
According to William Wyatt Gill, Gill, Vari, a female spirit or demon of flesh and ...
, the primordial mother goddess, plucked her out from the left side of her body. Papa married her brother, the sky god
Vatea
In Cook Islands mythology, Avatea (also known as Vatea; meaning 'noon' or 'light') was a lunar deity and the father of gods and men in Mangaian myth of origin. His eyes were thought to be the Sun and the Moon; he was also known as the god of ligh ...
. They had twin sons, the sea god
Tangaroa
Tangaroa (Takaroa in the South Island) is the great of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he exercises control over the tides. He is sometimes depicted as ...
and the vegetation god
Rongo
In Māori mythology, Rongo or Rongo-mā-Tāne (also Rongo-hīrea, Rongo-marae-roa, and Rongo-marae-roa-a-Rangi) is a major god (''atua'') of cultivated plants, especially kumara (spelled ''kūmara'' in Māori), a vital crop. Other crops cult ...
.
[''ʻAkatokamanāva: myth, history and society in the Southern Cook Islands'' by Jukka Siikala, 1991; p. 50-52]
See also
*
Rangi and Papa
In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Ra ...
, in
Māori mythology
Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern fantastic tales relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pr ...
*
Papahānaumoku
In the religion and mythology of the ancient Hawaiians, Papahānaumoku (pronunciation: ɑːpɑːˈhɑːnaʊmoʊku — often simply called Papa — is a goddess and the Earth Mother. She is mentioned in the chants as the consort of the sky god W ...
, Earth goddess in
Hawaiian mythology
Hawaiian religion refers to the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of native Hawaiians, also known as the kapu system. Hawaiian religion is based largely on the tapu religion common in Polynesia and likely originated among the Tahitians ...
References
Mangaia mythology
Cook Islands mythology
Earth goddesses
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